They love him because he's a jerk

[babylonsister]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/they-love-him-because-hes-jerk-by.html

Monday, September 19, 2016
They love him because he's a jerk
by Tom Sullivan


This tweet by David Atkins is a blunt lead-in to Matt Taibbi's column about the left's complaints of "false balance" in the press:

Ahead of the February 20 Republican primary in South Carolina, John Baldwin, a Greenville used-car dealer supporting Trump, told reporters “We’re voting with our middle finger.” They know Trump's a jerk. Being jerks is the point. They're acting out "Banks of the Ohio" with the country.

snip//

Thus has the presidential campaign devolved into infotainment.

Anyone who tries to argue that there's insufficiently vast documentation of Trump's insanity is either being willfully obtuse or not paying real attention to the news. Just follow this latest birther faceplant. The outrage is all out there, in huge quantities. It's just not having the predicted effect.

That's right on point. What the left is really angry about is not that the media is failing to expose the outrages of the man-child Trump. It is that his coverage is not having the desired effect on voters. But Trump supporters like John Baldwin know who Trump is and they don't care. They are not rejecting Trump for being a self-aggrandizing asshole. They embrace him because of it. What frustrates the left is what Atkins tweeted above. Yet the left demands the press to do more of the same reporting to expose Trump, hoping for different results. And that is?

snip//

Proving he is the kind of jerk who can put things over on people and get away with it is not a negative for his base. It is just the sort of thing Trump supporters love about him. Last week, Lawrence O'Donnell condemned what he said was Trump's personal philosophy, revealed in comments to the NY Economic Club regarding China violating trade laws:

"Who can blame them and I don't blame them at all. If you can get away with it, they're going to get away with it."

In the world of authoritarian followers, it is the alpha dog's right to get away with whatever he can. And getting way with things, O'Donnell said, is how Trump lives his life, whether it's cheating on subcontractors, lenders, or wives. Trump's followers know this and approve. Being a jerk makes him a fit authoritarian leader. Catholic nuns taught O'Donnell otherwise. "The true test of character," he said, "is what you choose to do if you can get away with it." But that's only meaningful if you have any character to begin with.

[uponit7771]

1. Its a human thing, people are more comfortable with someone they KNOW is a thief than someone

... they THINK is a thief because the first you know how to deal with them the latter they have to go through the thought process of suspecting them.

Trump on the other hand is a predator, he's not just a jerk ... stiffing small business's cause he can is fucked up


On the other hand this is a turnout election...

The M$M should be warning people of tRumps predatory nature over all seeing his opposition is biased and her word goes less with the turnout vote than every day Americans.

Normalizing predators is something the M$M wont agree that their doing

[get the red out]

2. Trump's a racist

That's enough for a lot of his minions.

Real journalism could up the Democratic turnout.

[uponit7771]

4. +1, yes... their normalizing his racism because it doesn't hurt most of the M$M... they're not as

... affected by his racism than PoC.

If tRump said he'd jail M$M who reported bad things about him and set it in policy we'd see a lot less normalizing of this guy

[Hortensis]

26. I strongly disagree with the initial post. A very large number

of conservatives who may end up voting for Trump will not do it with their middle finger, they will do it because they're so mind-fucked that they are committed to opposing Democrats no matter what. Because they've been encouraged over 30 and more years to demonize Democrats enough to justify whatever their right-wing alternative is, no matter what it is.

Responsible media coverage would make it very hard for those many conservatives who do want to be good citizens to ignore the truth about Trump -- and very much also the truth about Hillary.

[wiggs]

5. Racism is, of course, about dominance. Which his self-aggrandizing assholes love. nt

[wiggs]

3. This is right. He's an unsympathetic hardass who appeals to the many, many people who

are themselves either self-aggrandizing assholes or who need to follow self-aggrandizing assholes.

[AgadorSparticus]

6. The assumption is that the media actually spends time calling trump out on his bullshit

They don't. They very much have their finger on the scale for him. They It is trump everything 24/7. THAT is what is wrong. I agree that it won't change the minds of his base. But, for the love of god they just need to do their jobs. Right now, it is criminal what they are doing

[wiggs]

7. For decades Fox, Limbaugh, and 95% of talk radio have been training white america

that 'loud and wrong' is right.

[Orsino]

8. More than that: he gets attention they can't.

They want to be him, and to be able to piss off anyone they want at any time.

[oberliner]

9. The vast majority of white people in American will vote for Trump

Important to realize that this is the case, even if HRC wins the election.

Trump will get a majority of white voters, and it won't be close.

Think about what that says about the USA.

[geek tragedy]

12. especially the uneducated ones.

There are more nasty white racists than there are minorities in this country. Non-racist whites are the swing constituency.

[Turin_C3PO]

17. If I were

Hillary, I would make education a top priority. Revamp the curriculum s to include more critical thinking and require all students to take a civics class. That would be a start to ending this idiocy among segments of our population.

[oberliner]

21. Yes, indeed

If you take out those with a college education, his lead among whites is almost 20 points.

[geek tragedy]

22. more than that.

Romney won whites by 20 points, and he won whites with college degrees.

Trump is losing whites with college degrees, and he's still winning the white vote by over 20 points.

Most uneducated white voters would rather burn the country down than give up white privilege. It's a sad state of affairs.

[babylonsister]

15. No, I can't believe that.

Do you have a link to that assertion? I know the knuckledraggers will, but the vast majority?

I would hope anyone in this country with a modicum of intelligence, color immaterial, wouldn't vote for this very poor excuse for a human.

[oberliner]

20. It's the truth

I know it is disturbing, but take a look at the polls:

http://polling.reuters.com/#poll/TM651Y15_DS_13/filters/SC_RACE:1/dates/20160801-20160919/type/week

That Reuters poll gives him a ten point lead over HRC among whites.

And there is this article about Florida:

“Trump is up 51 to 30 percent among white voters, while Clinton has a commanding 82-4 percent lead with African-Americans and 61-21 percent among Hispanics/Latinos.”

http://patch.com/florida/landolakes/white-voters-boosting-donald-trump-s-florida-chances-poll

Pretty staggering.

[babylonsister]

25. Jeeze.

I was appalled in 2004 but thought at least people were voting "to keep the country safe", all those low info voters. There is no excuse for this.

[geek tragedy]

24. If they split white voters, Clinton would be up by 10-15% because of blacks, Latinos and Asians

The race is effectively tied because Trump is winning around 60-65% of white voters.

There's two kinds of white voters, those that see themselves as part of a diverse nation of different races, ethnicities and religions, and the 60-65% of white voters who are either latent or active white nationalists or Christian supremacists.

[wiggs]

10. also...they love trump because he's the opposite of Obama, in every way. For the

folk haven't had a white father figure who demanded worship for the last 7 years, the opportunity for backlash makes sense.

And that new father figure they need sure isn't going to be a woman.

George Lakoff was on to this a while ago...worth looking up again.

[geek tragedy]

11. the depravity of uneducated white voters in this country is truly appalling.

As a group, they largely love Donald Trump.

And people wonder why the Democratic party hasn't gone out of its way to cater to them.

[Turin_C3PO]

18. True,

BUT, aren't educated white voters just barely polling for Clinton? I think it's a white problem, period.

[geek tragedy]

19. true, in general it's a white voter problem,

educated white voters have been less supportive of Trump than uneducated ones, because they generally find his awfulness repulsive rather than praiseworthy.

[Turin_C3PO]

27. Yes

as should all decent people. This election really is a true referendum on the character of the American people.

[Guilded Lilly]

13. We are fighting not only ignorance but...

brazen bullying.

And not just from trump. We expect his repugnant character. It's the masses of voters who buy in to his brand of vile behavior and don't really give a crap about country and what/who is actually going to help their lot in life. They just want to have a platform to strike out for every grievance, real or imaginary about their existence. The ultimate swarmy con-man, Trump, has been enabled to provide that foul platform that promotes the worst of Americans.

These people don't care about intelligent choices.
They embrace the ugly. Gleefully.
After years of being exposed to the phony, brainless mind sets of reality TV and the no-accountability strongholds of graceless Internet social media, they truly don't give a shit.

THAT is who we are fighting against.

[wiggs]

14. ...fighting not only ignorance but ingrained authoritarian paternalism....read

Lakoff from DU in July...all about domination.

The Moral Hierarchy

The strict father logic extends further. The basic idea is that authority is justified by morality (the strict father version), and that, in a well-ordered world, there should be (and traditionally has been) a moral hierarchy in which those who have traditionally dominated should dominate. The hierarchy is: God above Man, Man above Nature, The Disciplined (Strong) above the Undisciplined (Weak), The Rich above the Poor, Employers above Employees, Adults above Children, Western culture above other cultures, America above other countries. The hierarchy extends to: Men above women, Whites above Nonwhites, Christians above nonChristians, Straights above Gays.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016164459

https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/understanding-trump-2/

[meow2u3]

16. We're fighting not only ignorance

But also a villain with good publicity: The Tangerine Tyrant, who has an authoritarian following. The media is casting HRC in the role of the villain Trump should be; she's the only with bad publicity instead of the real menace.

[Madam45for2923]

23. Trolls like trolls

eom.